Wildfires broke out across Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland this past week, likely the result of poor air quality, gusty winds, and low relative humidity. The Shenandoah Valley has been the most affected area within Virginia with firefighters battling hundreds of blazes. Shenandoah National Park saw blazes reaching over 1,200 acres before being pushed down to 987 acres by both the rainfall and the efforts of firefighters. In total, the whole Commonwealth has seen over 7,000 acres burning as a result of the fires.
As a result, Shenandoah National Park has closed part of Skyline Drive and several trails The park has also issued a complete fire ban till further notice on the National Park Service website. No fatalities have been reported with any of the fires but six homes in Shenandoah County were destroyed by the blaze according to the local ABC News affiliate in Lurray, VA. Page County officials released a statement saying “10-20” structures have burned. Evacuation orders were put into effect but most have since been resolved.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued an air quality warning on Facebook for the Shenandoah Valley region due to smoke. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin initiated a Regional Emergency Response Effort on Saturday to help contain the fires in Page County.
Right now, the Rocky Branch Fire, the biggest in Shenandoah, has been 10% contained. The Virginia Department of Forestry has told Time Magazine that the biggest fires have been 50-70% contained and that the rainfall has helped keep the fires under control. VDOF as well as the U.S. Forest Service has promised regular updates on how they plan to fight the fires. Fires continue to batter the state of West Virginia and now the WV National Guard has been called in to help the blazes.
For information on the wildfires. Please go the websites of the Shenandoah National Park, the National Weather Service wildfire map, the Virginia Department of Forestry, and the Staunton-based The News Leader. For information on how to prevent wildfires and what to do in case of one, visit the websites of the U.S. Forest Services and American Red Cross.
